Exile in the Forest: a Mahabharata Board Game

You all know how much I love board games. When I discovered that there are contests for designing your own board game, I had to give it a try. A site called The Game Crafter is hosting a contest for an adventure game. I pondered that for a while and thought up all kinds of potential themes but nothing was inspiring me. Then suddenly I thought, why not go for something I’m really familiar with? The Mahabharata!

The requirements included that the location be a real place in any point in time, have a lot of variability for replayability, and be an adventure game. After three weeks of very intense work I submitted my game based on the Pandavas’ exile. I think it’s pretty good! My brother and my husband have played it and enjoyed it. If you’ve ever played Runebound 2nd ed, that was a big inspiration for me. It’s my favorite adventure board game. Though the most fun part in my game might be the piles of dice to roll in combat!

Amazingly, I was not the only one making a board game in Ancient India! There is a game that according to the designer is a feminist retelling of The Ramayana. The mechanics look cool and I’m looking forward to giving that one a try.

Here is the link to all the games for the contest and more info on my board game is below: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/contests/adventure-challenge

Also, this video contains a hilarious moment of my cat getting his head caught in a soda box and falling backwards off the table.

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/exile-in-the-forest